None of the turtles said anything for the longest time. They kept looking at each other but all their eyes inevitably returned to Dilara. She was still out of it on the couch, not moving or uttering a sound since she arrived. Eventually Michelangelo scratched the back of his head ponderingly. "You think she's ok?" "Of course she's ok!" Donatello sounded scandalized. "Splinter wouldn't hurt her." "Maybe he just didn't realize how hard he hit her." "He didn't hit her…. did he?" There were no signs of injuries that they could see; not even a bump on the head.
"Wow, a girl…." Michelangelo then sighed, gazing back to her. "Dude! She's like the second human friend we'll ever have!" Donatello's eyes rolled. Neither of them was paying attention to Leonardo or Raphael's reactions; probably because they weren't very animated. "Mikey, she's not friend ye-….." "Your right. She's our sister-in-law." Both younger turtles finally turned back to the elder at this, only to find them wide-eyed and blushing; their eyes were still locked on Dilara. When neither of them said anything, Michelangelo also glanced back to her, a wide smile growing across his lips.
"She's super cute!" This earned a glare from both Leonardo and Raphael. "What?! We already know she's gonna marry you; can't I say how cute my lil' sis' is?" "Uh, we actually don't know if she's younger than us," Donatello added. "I meant size-wise; duh." "Oh boy," the purple-masked turtle eyes rolled again. "She's been a sleep for a long time now. Should we wake her up?" The youngest asked.
"No/yes," Leonardo and Raphael said at the same time, with the former disagreeing and the latter agreeing. It was the first time either of them had spoken since old Splinter left, though their voices were authoritative. Donatello blinked at them puzzled and they looked at each other. "We shouldn't wake her up," Leonardo told Raphael, who wasn't smiling at his brother. "Why? She's been out for a long time; we don't know how long. What good is letting her stay unconscious?" "Uh, guys….." "This is going a major shock for her; I doubt she's seen any large, mutant turtles before. We need to be gentle about this." "You, gentle? Well it explains why you're a worse fighter than me," Raphael folded his arms and smirked like this was some sort of victory for him. Leonardo frowned. "Guys….."
"Raph, I mean it. She'll have no idea where she is or how she got here; she's gonna be scared. I know this is a foreign concept to you but we need to be delicate, ok?" "Who said you get to call all the shots?" "I'm the leader, remember?" "Yeah, well I….." "You guys!" "What?!" They both shot their heads over Donatello's way. "Uh, I actually think Leo might be right about this." "See?" Leonardo's arms also crossed as he gave Raphael a side-smirk. "If she's truly injured, then we should let Dilara get as much rest as possible." "Injured?" This caught Leonardo and Raphael's immediate attention.
"W-wait, you don't think she could be really hurt, do you Donnie?" Leonardo was afraid to ask. "I don't know," he gazed back at her. "I have to wait 'til she wakes up to check, but I think she should come to in her own time." The blue and red masked brothers gave the other a look and then nodded in unison at the purple masked turtle. "I'm going to tinker in my lab. Call me if she wakes up." "Wait, Donnie. I think you should stay, just in case we need you," Leonardo told him. "Seriously? She's a human, not a glass doll." But the sharp glare from the two elder brothers made him sigh. "Fine, I'll work in the kitchen."
An hour passed with nothing. All the turtles stayed in the common room. Donatello worked on one of his inventions in the kitchen while Michelangelo bounced a ball on the wall. They noticed how Leonardo and Raphael sat particularly close to the lifeless girl; Raphael on the floor with his back leaning on the couch at her head and Leonardo actually sitting on the couch with her. Neither of them said anything, looking quite lost in thought. And of course they had a lot to think about; they'd never even considered marriage before tonight. Sure, they were still teenagers and it was a long time off but still, it would happen. Sooner or later, it was bound to happen.
While Raphael stared of into nowhere thoughtfully, Leonardo sketched her face in his mind. Michelangelo was right; she was pretty- she was beautiful. He certainly wouldn't be disappointed to have her as a wife, someday…. Gently, his large green hand reached out to brush a few stray hairs off her cheek. Raphael noticed. "Hey!" He shot his brother back a look. "Hands off my wife!" "She's not your wife," Leonardo rolled his eyes. "She's not either of our wives yet." "But she will be!" Michelangelo called from where he was playing with his bouncy ball.
"Look, we can't be fighting over her until one of us marries her; that'll not only hurt the team dynamic but it'll hurt our relationship," Leonardo tried to explain to Raphael; he seemed to consider this too. "So, why don't we just say that… uh…. uh…" "She's both your wife," Donatello called out, still tinkering in the kitchen. "Huh?" They blinked at him in surprise. "Don't you get it? Splinter didn't say which one of you marries her because that why, you'll both be more inclined to protect her." "I don't follow," Raphael's strong arms folded. "Do either of you know what Schrodinger's cat is?" "No," the pair answered at once.
Donatello took in a deep breath and grabbed a nearby screwdriver. "It's a thought experiment meant to represent a paradox. By telling you that one of you will marry Dilara, but not which one, Splinter has effectively made you both her husband equally." "He split them in half?!" Michelangelo gasped in surprise. "No! All it means is that you're both her husband and not husband at the same time. Until you actually get married….. wait, you guys thought of that yourselves in the future? I didn't think you were "that" smart." "Hey!" Both hollered irritated.
But they turned back to Dilara considerately afterwards, thinking about the situation. "I get it," Leonardo nodded. "So, it's like we're both half-husbands, at least for now." "Half-husbands?" Raphael's eyebrow cocked. "We're both her husband and not her husband at the same time… somehow. How does this cat paradox end again?" He asked Donatello. "That's so stupid, I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." "Haha!" Raphael laughed at his now annoyed older brother. After sending him a glare, he moved so to see Raphael face-to-face. "So what do you think? We're both her half-husbands?" "Alright." "Ok, good! Dilara's both our wives until further notice…. only no kissing." "Or touching," Raphael added. "Oh brother," Donatello's eyes rolled for what felt like the millionth time.
It was around then that the human girl began to stir for the first time. Half-excited, half-terrified, all brothers were instantly gathered around her. Her soft eyes started to flutter open as she let out a tiny groan, bringing the back of her hand to her forehead. "Ugh, where am I? What happened?"
Dilara's P.O.V.-
I don't know how long I had been out for. It felt like I was waking up from a long sleep but I don't remember going to bed. My eyes slowly opened as I brought my hand to my forehead; it didn't ache but it felt heavy. It didn't hit me right away, probably because I was still half-asleep, but I failed to notice that the roof I was currently staring at was not the roof in my room. "Ugh, where am I? What happened?" "Dude! She's waking up!" "Quiet, Mikey! You're being too loud!" I heard unfamiliar voices all around me, though they weren't registering right away. "Well, she looks stable enough but I'm gonna need her to open her eyes more to get a full diagnosis." What are they talking about? My head tilted slightly to the side to see two bodies standing there, staring down at me.
The first thing I remember was the colors: red and orange. More colors came into view- green, brown, blue, purple….. It took me a second to realize that they weren't human; I didn't know what they were. But it didn't really hit me until this wide, happy face was suddenly very close to mine; he was grinning down at me. "Hello!" That's when everything came crashing down. I screamed louder than I ever had in my life, sitting up immediately. Upright, I was able to see not one but four huge freaks around me. "Wait! Wait! Don't be scared! We're friends!" The one in the orange masked lifted his hands up in show of peace.
This didn't help anything; I just continued to scream and squirm away from them on the couch. I didn't remember this couch- ever- and I didn't know where I was, but at the moment, I didn't worry about that. I just wanted to get away- get as far away from these… these things as possible! They watched surprised and alarmed as I leapt off the side of the couch and made a dash into the room. But I didn't get far because I neglected to see the low wooden table blocking my way. Consequently, I tripped on its leg, stumbling back onto the ground and idiotically knocking myself out again. "Whoa, whoa, hold on!" Was the last thing I remember hearing. Last thing…..